Chapter 109 Killing the God
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If it can be said that making people love the deity was the result of some effort, then at that time, people started hating the deity almost overnight. The opposition quickly took control.
Zhuang Lao was happy to witness this situation and even added to the problem.
The last time Zhuang Lao appeared on the scene was in a video of him negotiating with higher authorities. In the video, he sat on a fancy chair, wearing expensive clothes and accessories, smelling of alcohol, without any formal negotiation atmosphere. It was more like discussing vegetable prices at a local market.
“I can help you achieve this wish, but it will come at a different price,” Zhuang Lao said, casually with his leg raised and blowing smoke. He rubbed his hands together, imitating a money gesture.
“How much do you think is suitable?” A good-looking young man spoke, slim and wearing a suit. He pushed up his glasses with gold edges and approached the discussion cautiously. “Can you consider ten times the price?”
“Money? I don’t want money,” Zhuang Lao said. “I want land.” He pointed to a spot on the map and casually drew a circle. “Give me that land, and kick out everyone inside.”
The young man’s face immediately turned unpleasant. Zhuang Lao had marked the capital city, the heart of the government. It seemed like Zhuang Lao wanted to rule over that place.
If Zhuang Lao’s previous requests were a bit too much, at that moment, he completely crossed the line. However, the young man tried to negotiate with a smile. “You see, that place has a special meaning for us. Can you choose a different location?”
Zhuang Lao didn’t even look and exhibited the arrogance of an all-powerful deity. He was like a detestable capitalist who oppressed and exploited people, with no divine grace, just the smell of copper.
“I like it here, and I won’t change.”
“We can give you more land. As long as you agree…”
“I’ve already said it. It’s here,” Zhuang Lao showed no respect, slamming his hand on the table and impatiently saying, “Are you questioning me? Are you questioning your deity?”
The young man fell silent.
At that moment, their personalities contrasted sharply. One was greedy and ugly, while the other was fresh and handsome. Anyone watching the video instantly felt a stronger sense of disgust towards Zhuang Lao.
“Isn’t it just about preventing the fusion of the two dimensions?” Zhuang Lao said coldly. “Once this wish is fulfilled, I will no longer have a purpose. Since you can’t fulfill this simple request, there’s no need to talk to me.”
The young man remained silent for a moment. “Is there really no room for negotiation?”
Zhuang Lao’s tone was firm. “None.”
The young man sighed. This was already an unequal transaction. They were the ones seeking Zhuang Lao’s assistance, and naturally, they had to fulfill his conditions.
They stayed silent for a while. The young man quietly stood up and said, “I’m sorry, sir. I can’t make the decision on my own. I need to go back and discuss.”
“There’s nothing to discuss.” Zhuang Lao lacked gentlemanly manners, speaking in his slightly imperfect Mandarin. He sounded annoyed. “What I said won’t change. If you want those things to stop fusing over, this is the condition. Understand? It doesn’t matter who comes, there’s no room for negotiation!” He even got angry, slamming the table and saying, “Just leave.”
The young man stood up and walked away.
The video ended there, and as expected, the comments section exploded. Two-thirds of the comments criticized Zhuang Lao for his insatiable greed, while one-third sympathized with the young man. There were also some extreme comments, but the overall sentiment conveyed a sense of shame as if the country was being betrayed.
Giving up the capital city just to fulfill his wish was a complete loss of sovereignty.
“Can’t someone take matters into their own hands against him?” an extreme comment stood out. “Or perhaps a righteous person who can eliminate him.”
“I can’t stand it either. If I were in that person’s place, I would have punched him right away. This handsome guy has great self-restraint.”
“Indeed, who created this deity in the first place? That game? Can’t we shut down the game first…”
“The game should be shut down. Otherwise, we’ll just keep boosting its popularity for him!”
“So, where are the game servers? Can we go and blow them up?”
The public didn’t need to take matters into their own hands. Within a few days, the game was actually shut down. Although the reason given was server maintenance, everyone understood what was really going on. If it continued running, that damn divinity’s power would likely continue to grow.
This whole situation was completely part of Zhuang Lao’s plan. One could even say he was the driving force behind the game’s shutdown. As the game progressed, there would be descriptions about the divinity, and people might start noticing that the description of the divinity didn’t match the reality. At this point, all the accounts that reached a certain level requirement were under Zhuang Lao’s control. Once the game was shut down, no one would know about those details.
As for the suspicions from above, Zhuang Lao simply didn’t care. Let them suspect all they want. No one could figure out why he would tarnish his own reputation like this. His actions were like self-destruction. At first glance, there seemed to be no benefits whatsoever.
So what if there were suspicions? Without evidence, Zhuang Lao didn’t even need to pay attention.
These past few days, Lin Zhaohe hadn’t gone to work. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to, but he simply couldn’t gather the focus to do so.
Lin Yan came over to his house, idle and bored. He sat with Lin Zhaohe in front of the television, sighing and lamenting. He said he seemed to understand why Lin Yan acted this way. Who could tolerate the emergence of such a deity? And this guy, afraid that his own death wasn’t quick enough, came up with some strange policies specifically targeting the two-dimensional world.
Statements like “Anything non-human in the two-dimensional world shouldn’t be allowed in public places” or “Higher taxes should be imposed on two-dimensional income” successfully attracted countless hatred.
Lin Yan: “What should we do?”
Lin Zhaohe: “Why worry about him? If he dies, he dies.”
“No, I’m not worried about him. I’m worried about myself…” Lin Yan whispered.
Lin Zhaohe: “Worried about yourself? About what?”
Lin Yan pointed towards the window.
Lin Zhaohe stood up and saw Mr. Li and Luo Shanyu standing downstairs. The two of them were smoking, and the atmosphere seemed very tense. He was shocked. “They’re still here?!”
Lin Yan: “What should I do…”
Lin Zhaohe: “Refuse! You should at least refuse one of them, right?”
Lin Yan: “Do you think I haven’t refused?!” He stood up and angrily shouted at the two people downstairs with the most ferocious expression, “Get the hell out of here, both of you! Don’t f*cking follow me anymore!”
Upon hearing Lin Yan’s shout, the two individuals stood up and reached into their pockets.
Lin Zhaohe thought they were reaching for weapons, but to his surprise, the two individuals pulled out two sets of red banners from their pockets and raised them up. One banner read, “Lin Yan is my boyfriend,” while the other read, “My boyfriend is Lin Yan.” At that moment, a passerby happened to be walking by and muttered loudly, “Lin Yan sure has a lot of popularity. He really attracts men.”
Upstairs, Lin Yan heard it too and was immediately filled with indignation and embarrassment. He slammed the window shut with a loud bang, his eyes turning red with anger. He said to Lin Zhaohe, “Do you have any good ideas to deal with these two people for me?”
Lin Zhaohe couldn’t help but burst into laughter, a mix of schadenfreude and genuine amusement. He laughed so hard that tears streamed down his face, and while wiping them away, he chuckled, “How about you give them a taste of their own medicine?”
Knowing that he was joking, Lin Yan gritted his teeth and said, “Or maybe I should go ask that divinity to empty their heads of nonsense.”
Lin Zhaohe couldn’t stop laughing, bending over with mirth.
Zhuang Lao’s plan went smoothly. If people’s sentiments towards the divinity were previously mere disgust, his recent demands had now touched upon their fundamental interests.
Selling their own country’s capital in order to fulfill a wish was something people simply couldn’t accept. No matter how they negotiated, the divinity remained stubborn as a rock. Not only did he show no signs of compromise, but he even pushed further, designing the buildings he wanted to construct in the capital. He claimed he would turn the capital into a grand villa with five hundred beautiful maids inside…
On the evening he made this demand, the divinity experienced his first assassination attempt.
At that time, Zhuang Lao was still in bed, entwined with Lin Zhaohe. Lin Zhaohe leaned against Zhuang Lao’s chest, listening to his steady heartbeat. Suddenly, Zhuang Lao, who had been half-dozing, opened his eyes, his expression slightly off.
“What’s wrong?” Lin Zhaohe asked him.
“Something happened over there,” Zhuang Lao sat up. He usually stayed overnight there and had a puppet substitute in place. It seemed that something had happened to the substitute.
“What happened?” Lin Zhaohe asked.
Zhuang Lao took out his phone, swiped a few times, and handed it to Lin Zhaohe. Lin Zhaohe took a look and saw surveillance footage. In the video, several people were acting suspiciously, managing to breach the defenses and rush into Zhuang Lao’s bedroom. They threw something inside, and shortly after, the villa where Zhuang Lao resided became engulfed in a deep blue sea of flames.
Lin Zhaohe was dumbfounded. He hadn’t expected the assassins to be so determined. The video had only appeared a few days ago, and now they had come to kill Zhuang Lao.
“What should we do?” Lin Zhaohe asked Zhuang Lao. “Should we go over there?”
“Forget it,” Zhuang Lao said. “Let’s go tomorrow. It’s chilly outside…”
It had been snowing continuously recently, and the weather was getting colder.
Lin Zhaohe said, “But won’t something bad happen?”
Zhuang Lao shook his head, saying it was nothing major. Seeing his confidence, Lin Zhaohe didn’t press further.
The next day, when Lin Zhaohe woke up after a night’s sleep, he realized that the internet had exploded. All the images were of Zhuang Lao’s burnt-down villa.
Some people were applauding, saying he deserved to die. Of course, others had realized the problem at hand, saying that he hadn’t fulfilled his wish yet, and they had already killed him. What if the 2D worlds merged back again?
Zhuang Lao sipped his coffee while reading the news. This guy enjoyed watching the commotion and found it amusing. “Look, they can’t find the body, and they’re getting anxious.”
Lin Zhaohe played the role of a housewife urging his husband to go to work. “When are you going over there? It must be chaotic by now.”
Zhuang Lao glanced at the time and said, “It’s about time.” He leisurely walked out the door.
Half an hour later, he appeared on the live broadcast at the scene, with that ugly face of his. Being of average height and quite inconspicuous, his sudden appearance next to the host startled the beautiful presenter.
“Are you… alright?” The host lowered her head, looking at the divinity who was a head shorter than her.
Zhuang Lao had an unpleasant expression on his face and asked, “What’s all this about? I leave for a moment, and my house ends up like this?”
The host stuttered, “Apparently, there was an accident last night.” No wonder they couldn’t find the body. So it turned out the person didn’t die.
Upon witnessing this scene, the crowd felt both relieved and started sighing, consoling each other that it was better that he hadn’t died. They truly didn’t know what they would have done if he had.
Zhuang Lao, realizing he had been targeted for assassination, couldn’t contain his anger. He raged in front of the television, demanding an explanation. His spittle flew in a terrifying manner, and even Lin Zhaohe, who knew the truth, couldn’t help but shudder and quietly changed the channel.
In terms of acting, Zhuang Lao was also experienced. Lin Zhaohe thought, one couldn’t possibly imagine what similarities these two individuals had…
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